


groove

by seothsayers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Adulthood Woes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Salsa dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28795464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: It’s a salsa class. It’s not that complicated. If he hates it, he hates it, and he just won’t come back. There was a pottery class on offer that looked interesting. His brain was making things so much more stressful than they needed to be.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Moon Taeil
Comments: 15
Kudos: 71





	groove

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by this [video](https://twitter.com/seothsayers/status/1344395600150884353?s=20)

When Taeil walks into the studio at the leisure centre there are already a couple of people there. They smile at him and he smiles back, before sitting down on a bench and tucking his hands under his thighs as the room slowly fills up. There are maybe twenty people in total, most of whom seem to already know each other. They chatter amongst themselves and Taeil wonders whether he should have invited one of his friends along for the company. 

The doors swing open and a young man walks in. He’s dressed smart – black trousers and a white button up. He walks to the front of the room and drops his bag onto the floor and the room begins to fall quiet. Taeil sucks in a breath and waits.

“Evening everyone!” The man greets them all with a bright smile. “It’s good to see you all and even some new faces.” Taeil freezes up as the man’s eyes turn straight towards him, and a couple of others look over in his direction too. His eyes are friendly, and they don’t linger for too long before he turns back to address the rest of the room. “We’re going to start as we always do with a warm up of course.”

Taeil stands with everyone else and migrates to the centre of the floor. As every second passes by, he’s starting to wish he _had_ invited someone else. Johnny who would laugh and be just as clueless as Taeil was or maybe even Taeyong, if he could have found the time, who would pick up the moves in seconds as always. But then again, whole reason he had signed up in the first place was to get out of his comfort zone. Part of him screams that inviting someone else along for support defeats the point and part of him screams that this is all a gradual process and just because he invited someone else for comfort this time doesn’t mean it would happen again. 

Taeil sighs. It’s a salsa class. It’s not that complicated. If he hates it, he hates it, and he just won’t come back. There was a pottery class on offer that looked interesting. His brain was making things so much more stressful than they needed to be.

A woman approaches him with a bright smile. “Hey, I’m Seulgi,” She says. 

“Taeil,” He introduces himself. 

“I hope you don’t mind me saying that you look a little lost,” She laughs, but it’s not teasing. Taeil appreciates it. “I’ve been coming to these classes for a little while now with my girlfriend. I’d be happy to help if you need anything.”

“That would be very much appreciated.” Taeil says. “It’s that obvious, huh.”

“You look a little like a duck out of water, but a cute one, don’t worry. Donghyuck will love you.” She gestures to the man at the front of the room who is now fiddling with a pair of bluetooth speakers. “He might seem like a force of nature, but he’s nice, I promise.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Music starts to blare through the room and Donghyuck claps his hands together. “Stretching time!”

He leads the group through lunges and other warm ups and Taeil feels himself relaxing a little bit. The atmosphere is light, Donghyuck cracks jokes and the class laugh along with him. Everyone seems friendly – Seulgi’s girlfriend Joohyun introduces herself to him and looks less than thrilled when Donghyuck approaches them and asks if she’ll be his partner for the first half. 

“Seulgi can show you the ropes, I trust her.” Donghyuck turns to Taeil with a bright grin. “Taeil, right? It’s nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy the class.”

Most everyone had been at the class for a few weeks minimum at least so they knew the basic steps. Everyone spends a little while running over them, giving Seulgi time to teach Taeil the footwork. It’s not too difficult and he picks it up relatively quickly. It helps that Seulgi doesn’t care when Taeil accidentally messes up or when he almost steps all over her feet – she just laughs and says, “Let’s start again,” and they do.

Donghyuck changes the music to something more upbeat and the group move to the edges of the room. 

“We’re going to get into pairs again and just go for it.” Seulgi explains. “It just gives people a chance to show off or to switch to a new partner. Do you want to sit and watch for a while?”

Taeil nods. Joohyun makes her way back over and she and Seulgi step out into the middle of the floor and start dancing with one another. They’re good, almost too good for a beginners class, but Taeil supposes they don’t need to strive to push themselves any harder, not if this is just a way for them to spend time with one another. 

“Are you ready to give it a go?”

Taeil jumps a little at Donghyuck’s voice. He’s looking down at Taeil with a smile, hands in his pockets. 

“I promise it’s not as scary as it looks.” Donghyuck says. “Most people will only be watching for a second as you pass them by, and everyone else is too busy dancing to be looking at you anyway.”

“I don’t have a partner –” Taeil begins, but Donghyuck cuts him off by offering him a hand. 

“You can dance with me.”

Taeil’s not about to say no. He accepts Donghyuck’s hand and lets Donghyuck lead him onto the floor. 

“I’ll lead, you follow,” Donghyuck says. 

They begin to work through what Taeil had learnt earlier with Seulgi. Taeil can’t even think about what’s going on around them – he’s too busy looking down at his feet to try and make sure he’s hitting all the steps. 

“You’re doing great,” Donghyuck tells him. “Just try to swing your hips a bit more.”

Taeil starts to get the hang of it and just let’s go. Donghyuck grins at him as Taeil finally looks up because does it really matter if he stands all over Donghyuck’s feet? You can’t be perfect at something on your first try. 

Taeil dances with Seulgi again and Joohyun and then several others before the class comes to an end. He’s sweating, his shirt sticking to his skin and he gulps down the water he had brought in his backpack. 

“Will we see you next week?” Donghyuck asks before Taeil leaves. 

“Maybe,” Taeil answers. 

…

It’s pure coincidence that they run into each other. It makes sense for Donghyuck to work locally, but Taeil doesn’t think anything of seeing anyone from the class again. He had skipped out on the second week after a few days of chewing his lower lip raw as he considered it and signed up for the pottery class instead. Then the next week he had done the same again – it was like the more time passed, the easier it was to convince himself not to go back. Taeil didn’t even know why – it wasn’t that he didn’t like the class or that the people weren’t nice. He’d had a great time. There was just an overwhelming feeling of anxiety about the whole thing and so he decided not to go. 

They spot each other at the same time and so Taeil can’t turn and scuttle away. Donghyuck smiles and hesitates before he walks closer. 

“Hey,” He says. “I’m guessing salsa wasn’t for you?”

Taeil opens his mouth to make up an excuse but then shuts it again and just shrugs instead. 

“It’s not for everyone, don’t worry.” Donghyuck says. 

“It was a good class,” Taeil says. It sounds weak and flimsy, but it was – Taeil doesn’t want to give Donghyuck the impression that it was anything he had done to make Taeil feel like he couldn’t go back. It was just his brain and being stuck in this mindless routine. He was working on it. 

“Not to brag, but I know,” Donghyuck laughs. “I won’t keep you. It was nice to see you again Taeil. If you ever change your mind, you know where to find us.”

Donghyuck waves and leaves Taeil stood in front of the wine with a churning in his gut. 

…

“Are you sure he didn’t pressure you into this?” Johnny asks, a frown on his face as Taeil climbs into his car. 

Taeil slams the door shut. “For the last time, no. He was perfectly polite. It’s just my pea brain telling me that I was being a coward for not going and so I’m remedying what went wrong last time in the hopes that it might work out better now.” Once Taeil fastens his seatbelt, he turns to Johnny with a smile. “Besides, my therapist said it was a good idea, so I’m going with her judgement on this one.”

“Right.” Johnny says, pulling out of the parking lot. “So, salsa. Tell me what I need to know.”

Taeil was thoroughly enjoying his pottery class. The reason he had picked salsa in the first place was because he was worried that with pottery, there would be too much time for his mind to run wild and that the physical movement in salsa would be a good distraction. It turns out that was not the case – pottery was hard and the crafting gave him something to focus on. 

Taeil genuinely wanted to give the salsa class another try. He knew most people in the class, by face if not by name, and so he had already overcome one hurdle. He had brought Johnny along which ticked off another. They probably thought he wasn’t coming back. There was a tiny part of Taeil that was excited by the thought of surprising them when he walked through the doors. 

When they get inside Seulgi waves at him, dragging Joohyun over and starting up a conversation like she hadn’t only met him once and that he hadn’t disappeared for two weeks. Taeil really appreciates it. With Johnny there too everything feels a little easier. When Donghyuck walks in, he does exactly what he did last time – drops off his bag, claps his hands together and waits for the conversation to die down. As he scans over everyone he spots Taeil and does a double take, and a bright smile appears on his face before he begins to address everybody. 

Johnny elbows him in the side. When Taeil glances over, he has his eyebrows raised and Taeil just turns back to the front and elbows him back, a little harder than necessary. 

“I saw we had a newcomer today, but I must have missed your name on the list,” Donghyuck says to Taeil after they’ve completed the warm ups. “It’s good to see you again. I’m Donghyuck,” He introduces himself to Johnny. 

“Johnny. Here to keep him company.” Johnny points a thumb in Taeil’s direction. “Please don’t expect anything much. I’m notorious for my dad dancing.”

Donghyuck laughs. “Don’t worry. We’ll make a salsa star out of you yet.”

Seulgi partners with Taeil again, meaning Johnny ends up with Joohyun. They go over the basic moves for Johnny’s sake (and for Taeil’s, although he remembers them for the most part) before they’re left to their own devices. With no odd number, it leaves Donghyuck free to wander around and help. Taeil watches over Seulgi’s shoulder as he starts to practice some fancier moves with some of the others. Everyone seems to love him, and Taeil can see why. He really seems to enjoy what he’s doing. 

“What made you decide to come back?” Seulgi asks when they’re taking a break. 

“I realised I needed to attend more than one session before I decided whether or not it was for me.” Taeil says. “I had fun last time, so I wanted to try it again.”

“It looks like Johnny is having fun too,” Seulgi points to where Johnny has somehow charmed another older lady into dancing with him. His footing was all over the place but they seemed to be having a good time – at the end of the day, that’s what the class was all about. 

“I think it’s going to be hard to get him to leave.” Taeil laughs as the woman spins Johnny around. 

“When then I guess you’ll just have to come back again, won’t you?” Seulgi teases. 

Taeil sighs. “Yeah, I guess so.”

…

Taeil’s on his way out of his pottery class when he runs into Donghyuck again. He’s dressed differently to how he is when Taeil normally sees him – instead of the smart gear he’s in a pair of leggings and a loose shirt. They almost bump into each other and it takes Taeil a second to realise who’s in front of him. 

“I guess we’re just going to keep running into each other,” Donghyuck laughs. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m in the pottery class as well as your salsa one,” Taeil explains. “What about you? You’re not normally around here on a Monday, are you?”

“No, I decided to try out yoga.” Donghyuck says. “I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I was about to go and grab something to eat, you’re welcome to join me if you want.”

Taeil pauses for a second. “Yeah, why not.”

“Great.” Donghyuck smiles. 

They end up at a small Thai place not far away. Donghyuck looks starkly different under the dim lighting, the hoodie he has pulled out from his bag swamping him and his eyes wide under circle-rimmed glasses. 

“Is it too intrusive to ask why you signed up for the salsa class?” Donghyuck asks once they’ve ordered. 

Taeil had run through this a dozen times in his head. It was different when he spoke to Johnny or one of his other friends who knew his situation, but a stranger was always different. Seulgi hadn’t pushed, and Taeil got the feeling that Donghyuck wouldn’t either but he still wanted to be honest. Something about Donghyuck made him feel trustworthy – and sharing something he wouldn’t normally think to share was another step in the right direction anyway. Being honest was a test in itself. 

“I needed a hobby. I was stuck in this routine of work and sleep. It was getting me down, so my therapist recommended I try something new.” Taeil says. “I was looking through the list and tried to find something I would never normally pick and ended up with salsa.”

“It’s definitely not the easiest class, but you seem a little more comfortable now.” Donghyuck says. “I don’t blame you if that first week felt off putting. It’s hard when you’re surrounded by a bunch of new people you don’t know.”

“I just needed some time to adjust, I think,” Taeil says. “What about you? What made you decide to teach?”

“Money,” Donghyuck laughs. “I’m a PhD student and so although I get some income from my funding and the teaching I do on the side, I wanted something else for the extra financial security. I think I have the opposite problem to you – I do too much. It’s why I joined yoga. I thought maybe it would be a good way to help me relax a little.”

“You’ve got a lot going on,” Taeil says. 

“I like to be busy,” Donghyuck says. “It’s not always a good thing. I’m working on it.”

Their food arrives and they talk a little more about themselves. Donghyuck is studying Literature and hopes to teach one day and he shares an apartment with his friends from university still but he’s thinking of moving someplace new as soon as he is able. Taeil talks about his cat and his job in accounting – “It’s about as thrilling as it sounds,” Taeil says. “Which as you’ve probably guessed, is not very thrilling at all.”

“Have you ever thought about doing something else?” Donghyuck asks. He asks it casually, tentatively. They’re barely friends and whilst they’ve been up front with each other about their lives, Taeil appreciates that Donghyuck is happy to let Taeil lead with how much he wants to give. 

“Oh, all the time.” Taeil says. “It’s a work in progress.”

They split the bill and head out into the night. It’s started to rain a little, and Taeil digs in his bag to find his umbrella whilst Donghyuck pulls his hood up over his head. Taeil’s catching the bus so they head to the nearest stop and Taeil checks the time – five minutes. 

“I cycled over,” Donghyuck says, gesturing back in the direction of the leisure centre. “I guess I’ll see you on Thursday?”

“Of course.” Taeil says. “See you then.”

Donghyuck begins to jog away, but he spins on his heel and turns back at the last minute. 

“Is it too forward of me to ask for your number?” Donghyuck asks. 

“No,” Taeil tells him. 

Huddled under Taeil’s umbrella, they swap phones and type in their contact details. Taeil can’t help but smile at the dancing lady emoji that Donghyuck leaves next to his name. 

“See you on Thursday!” Donghyuck says again once they’re done, and then he’s gone for good this time, disappearing into the night. 

Taeil makes it back to his place a little soggy, but feeling good. He kicks off his shoes and changes into something comfier before he checks his phone and scrolls through messages from Johnny, their group chat and his sister. 

He reads through them all and is in the middle of typing out responses when his phone buzzes again, this time from Donghyuck. 

**Donghyuck Lee 💃:** i’m glad you decided to give the class another chance 

His fingers hover over the keyboard for a moment before he fires off a reply. 

**Taeil:** Me too. 

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/seothsayers)


End file.
